hide and run away
by Tsuru Maiden
Summary: They hide every day. He hopes no one will find them. She hopes he won't leave her. One-shot; Gruvia, implied Graylu if you squint. Slight AU.


**Author's notes: I wrote this original story but noticed it fit well with Gruvia. Please don't read it if you don't like it. Characters may be OOC, up to interpretation. Do pop a review if you feel up to it. Thank you!**

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"Gray… Gray-sama? Where am I? Are you there?"

"Will you... will you leave?" The girl who says it is a mess of tousled hair and tangled sheets. Her dark blue eyes are wide with fear, her blue hair ragged and messy - a sign that she has just woken up from a light slumber. The fact that she could have fallen asleep on the stiff hotel bed - that she could even have slept at all - was a miracle on its own. She's been having insomnia ever since that night.

Must be the nightmares, he thinks.

Gray turns back from his view of the rusty window to look at her. It's the fortieth time (and counting) she's said those words the moment she wakes. Fiddling with his silver necklace, the cross-shaped sword with the stone attached, he sighs quietly. He wonders how anyone can be so insecure, timid and just so _fragile_.

"I won't leave." He says shortly. When she looks none the more convinced, Gray sighs (he's lost count on how many times he did) and walks over to her. There's not much space to cover when the room they're staying in is cramped and musty (but most importantly, _hidden_ ) anyway.

"Look, I've had the chance to leave y-" He cuts off, about to utter the word 'you', until he remembers it's forbidden. Their relationship is something unable to be encapsulated with words - which, even possible, is something he refuses to admit nor say. The price of admitting the truth is far too high to pay. Always. He knows from experience.

"I've had the chance to leave this place many times." Gray amends. He thinks of the night that incident happened, back then. The night that they became outcasts, roaming the streets. Trying so desperately to keep their presences hidden. The night that they stumbled into this hell-hole, which eventually became their hideout (but never their home).

The night they hid and ran away.

Gray thinks about the night where Lucy-

His throat constricts. He refuses to finish that thought. It's far too dangerous. He can't afford to breakdown in front of Juvia. Besides, that golden-haired girl is gone from the world. He's very well aware of that. (Gray's heart squeezes numbly).

"If I wanted to go I would have done so a long time ago."

The word 'go' makes her flinch. She tries to hide it, but just before she looks away, Gray sees the (all too familiar) flash of fear, still evident in her eyes. He sighs quietly, but Juvia hears him. She shifts her body uncomfortably but stays quiet, staring at her knees, and Gray knows she's afraid that he'll grow impatient. That he will lose his temper, walk out, and never come back. And that she will lose her single lifeline left to this world. Her only (remaining) connection to Fairy Tail.

Gray's eyes strays to her left thigh, which is visible now that her shorts have ridden up slightly, after she woke from her sleep. He can still feel his breath hitching when he sees the now-empty spot. His hand moves unconsciously to the right side of his chest, as if pressing down on his guild mark will make him feel any better.

It's not the first time he's tried to reassure her but still fail to despite everything he says. Gray sighs again. He's tired. Tired of hiding, tired of the guilt, tired of _this._ Utterly and completely exhausted. But it's not like he can abandon her. Not after seeing how broken she has become.

"Here." He grasps her right hand firmly (but gently), unclasping his necklace at the same time. Gray hesitates for a brief moment before pressing the cold silver sword into her pale and petite palm decisively.

"We'll swear it on this. If I do leave you, you're free to kill me."

She flinches at the word 'kill'. That's no surprise. It's what got them into this mess anyway.

"Why would you swear that?" She croaks, her eyes flitting about wildly. He looks - really looks at her, for the second time, since they have escaped from there. Their eyes meet - mirror images of the same dark blue. One cold, with bare traces of almost tangible regret, one panicky, broken and scarred.

"Because you won't feel as broken when you hate me after I leave."

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Juvia never notices that the 'ifs' in their conversations had changed to 'whens'. She never realises until one day, she wakes up in the same hotel room and realises that his belongings are no longer there anymore.

(The only thing that was left of him was the necklace around her neck.)

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Additional notes: The part about the ifs and whens, in case you guys didn't get it, refers to how Gray initially said "if I leave" but later changes it to "when I leave instead", implying that he eventually will one day. Whether he leaves for Juvia's own good, so that she will stop depending on him, or because the stress became too much, is up to your interpretation. Thanks for reading!


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